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Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. During that time he established the regime now known as Stalinism. As one of several Central Committee Secretariats, Stalin's formal position was originally limited in scope, but through increasing control of the Party from 1928 onwards, he became the de facto party leader and dictator. His crash programs of industrialization and collectivization in the 1930s and his campaigns of political repression cost the lives of millions of people. However, it helped to make the Soviet Union the second largest industrial nation by 1937. During Stalin's reign, the Soviet Union played a major role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War (1939–1945) (more commonly known in Russia and post-Soviet republics as the Great Patriotic War). Under Stalin's leadership, the Soviet Union went on to achieve recognition as one of just two superpowers in the post-war era, a status that lasted for nearly four decades after his death. After his death, Stalin's eventual succesor, Nikita Khrushchev seized on the horror's of Stalin's reign to gain political advantage, embarking on a program of "de-Stalinzation" that was designed to tear down the lingering remanents of Stalin's cult of personality and politically neutralize Stalin's surviving supporters. In the last days of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev candidly condemned Stalin and his brutal regime. However, with the fall of the Soviet Union and increasing instability in Russia, as well as the erosion of Russian commitment to democracy, a certain nostalgia for the days of strong, capable leadership has seen some rehabilitation of Stalin's legacy. Joseph Stalin in The Gladiator In an alternate where the USSR won the Cold War, Joseph Stalin was considered one of the great heroes of the Soviet Union and the world. Joseph Stalin in The Man With the Iron Heart It was Joseph Stalin's stated intention that Germany never be able to invade the Soviet Union again. To that end, he gave the Red Army a very free hand in the conquest and occupation of Germany, encouraging his forces to meet violent resistance with even great violence. However, Stalin's generally suspicious nature did him no favors, as Soviet occupation authorities were strictly forbidden from cooperating with their Western Allies in their fight against the German Freedom Front. Indeed, it was only after NKVD agents in Berlin transferred custody of a DP to their American counter-parts was GFF leader Reinhard Heydrich found and killed. Joseph Stalin in "Ready for the Fatherland" in 1943. ("Ready for the Fatherland")]]Joseph Stalin gladly accepted Erich von Manstein's offer for a separate peace between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1943, despite the Allied Forces' stated goal of unconditional surrender. After the United States began occupying Japan, Stalin ordered the invasion of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. In 1953, Stalin ordered American-occupied Tokyo destroyed by a sunbomb. The United States bombed Vladivostok in response. Stalin died before the conflict could escalate into full-fledged war. Joseph Stalin in Worldwar , and Winston Churchill led the Allied Forces in World War II]]Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union during World War II and during the battle against the Race's Conquest Fleet. Under his leadership--and his willingness to kill, maim, and devastate innumerable Soviet citizens--the Soviet Union withstood the Race's invasion--despite a pervasive paranoia that hampered may of his advisors' ability to do their jobs effectively and a meddlesome style of government that led him to interfere in a number of projects which he did not fully understand. , Stalin continued to support anti-Race struggles, especially the Chinese Communist Party's.]]Stalin was recognized as "not-emperor" of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. Throughout his life, he supported Mao Tse-Tung's Communist revolution in China. After his death, he was succeeded by Vyacheslav Molotov. Stalin and Adolf Hitler of Germany most closely resembled of all the Tosevite "not-emperors" the Race's conception of a true "emperor". However, neither man had any hereditary claim to their position, which explained, from the Race's perspective, why both ruled through terror and force. Joseph Stalin in The War That Came Early Joseph Stalin had been interferring in the affairs of continental Europe through much of the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War, Stalin supported the Spanish Republicans against the Spanish Nationalists, who were in turn supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Stalin also entered into a mutual-protection pact with Czechoslovakia. While the Soviet Union was not asked to attend the 1938 Munich Conference by either Britain or France, the two western Allies' decision to declare war on Germany once Germany attacked Czechoslovakia emboldened Stalin to honor his own alliance with Czechoslovakia, and declare war on Germany himself. In the early phase of the war, the Soviet Union provided the most assistance to Czechoslovakia. However, Czechoslovakia was separated from the Soviet Union by neutrals Poland and Romania. As the USSR had asserted territorial claims in both, neither permitted the Red Army to cross their territory. Thus, Soviet aid to Czechoslovakia was limited to air support. The Western Allies did not act aggressively, and by November, 1938, Czechoslovakia had fallen. Nonethless, Stalin called for continued engagements with Germany, including bombing raids on East Prussia. Stalin also continued to press Poland to allow Soviet troops to cross its frontier. Stalin ordered an invasion in early 1939. Poland aligned itself with Germany in response. This new front did not prove immediately successful for the Soviet Union. Adding to the chaos, in April, 1939, Japan, which had invaded China, invaded Siberia. Joseph Stalin in In the Presence of Mine Enemies Jospeh Stalin (1878-c.a 1947) led the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and was ultimately defeated. In 2011, a musical about a terrible play about the evil of Stalin and Winston Churchill became a smash hit. Joseph Stalin in Southern Victory ]]Using the pseudonym "Man of Steel" (Stalin), Iosef Dzhugashvili (d. 1925) was a leader of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War. He was among the leaders of that movement to make their last stand in the city of Tsaritsin. Joseph Stalin in "Joe Steele" Joseph "Joe" Steele (born Iosef Dzhugashvili, a name even God couldn't pronounce) was the 32nd President of the United States. He was elected to an unprecedented six terms. He lead his country through two wars, but his quest for personal power all but eradicated democracy in America. Steele was born six months after his parents arrived in the United States. He grew up in California, and became a Democratic Congressman from Fresno. In 1932, he and New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt became the front runners for the party's presidential nomination. After two days into the party's convention, neither had the needed two-thirds majority. Steele, using his loyal supporters Stas Mikoian, Kagan, and the Hammer, saw to it that Roosevelt died in a fire at the governor's mansion. With his primary opponent gone, Steele became the party's presidential nominee. His vice-presidential nominee was John Nance Garner. Steele handily defeated his opponent, Republican Herbert Hoover with the promise of a Four-Year plan for revitalizing the country's depressed economy. Steele immediately put his plan into action, passing legislation for highways, dams, and other public works projects. The United States Supreme Court began overturning this legislation as unconstitutional in 1933. Steele publically denounced the Court's actions. At the same time, he ordered Bureau of Investigation Chief J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the justices. Hoover discovered "evidence" that four of the justices were in the employ of Nazi Germany. This Gang of Four was arrested and interrogated. Also arrested were Father Charles Coughlin and Louisiana governor Huey Long. Coughlin and the justices were executed. Long was killed while trying to "escape". For the remainder of his first term, Steele's legislation went unopposed. Steele was re-elected in 1936, defeating his opponent Alf Landon in a landslide. Shortly after taking the oath of office, he was nearly assassinated by a German named Otto Spitzer. Steele was unharmed, but Spitzer was killed in the attack. Steele publically denounced Adolf Hitler as the mastermind behind the attack. In his second term, Steele began his Second Four-Year Plan. This included more public works and communal farms. Dissenters were sent to Alaska, North Dakota, and other isolated places. Steele also ordered Hoover and the Hammer to purge the military. When war began in Europe, Steele was content to remain neutral. He hated both Hitler and Soviet Premier Leon Trostky equally. However, when Hitler was able gain the upper-hand on the continent, Steele began to support Britain with loans and weapons. He was re-elected to an unprecedented third term in 1940 on the promise that the United States would not enter the war. When Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941, Steele tarried for six weeks before providing the Soviet Union with aid. In December, 1941, however, the United States entered the war when Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Weeks later, the Philippines had also fallen to the Japanese. Steele ordered the trial and execution of Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short (the military leaders in charge of Pearl Harbor) and General Douglas MacArthur, who'd fled the Philippines. Despite the fact that Japan had attacked the U.S., Steele concentrated on Europe. When the Soviet Army defeated the German army at the battle of Trotskygrad in 1943, Steele began to more earnestly prepare to open a western front. The Normandy invasion took place in 1944 (the same year Steele was re-elected, unopposed, to a fourth term), and Germany was caught in a vice. Germany surrendered in 1945. Steele turned to Japan, invading the islands in late 1945. After a period of brutal fighting, the Soviet Union invaded the northern islands, taking Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu. The rest of Japan was occupied by the United States. Emperor Hirohito was killed by an incendiary bomb, and the fighting simply stopped. The following year, Steele learned that Germany had been working on an atomic bomb project. Steele interrogated Albert Einstein about his possible knowledge of the bomb. Einstein admitted that he'd almost written to Steele about building a bomb, but feared that Steele would use it. Steele responded by rounding up and executing several Jewish scientists. However, one, Edward Teller, offered to build the bomb in exchange for his life. Steele agreed. In 1948, North Japan, the puppet state established by the Soviet Union, invaded South Japan, the state created by the U.S. South Japan's troops retreated in the face of the North's onslaught until they met U.S. Marines at Utsunomiya. The Marines held, defeating the North Japanese. With the war on, Steele won a fifth term. The Japanese War proved to be an ugly war. It ended in 1949, with an exchange of atomic weapons. The U.S. destroyed Sapporo, the capital of North Japan, with Edward Teller's completed atomic bomb on August 6. On August 9, the Soviet Union destroyed the major city of Nagano, South Japan. Steele turned his attention back to the U.S., finding more traitors. He was elected to a sixth term in 1952, but died six weeks after being sworn in in 1953. His vice president, John Nance Garner, ascended to the presidency and ordered the executions of the Hammer and J. Edgar Hoover. The Hammer ordered the deaths of Garner and Hoover. Hoover ordered the deaths of Hammer and Garner, and succeeded in his task. 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